The Second Curse
by Jack Barrington
Summary: Magic may be power...but power only brings misery, especially for one person who is possessed by dark forces. But will Storybrooke fall into despair, or find love again? Rated M for safety. Some elements taken from The Darkness and Dishonored. Ships: Swan Queen, Rumbelle, and Ruby/? If you can guess there's a cookie in it for you.
1. Chapter 1: Unleashed

**Chapter 1: Unleashed**

There is a town in Maine...

Where every storybook character you've ever known (and some you don't know) are trapped between two worlds. Victims of a powerful curse...

That can only be broken by one person.

And one day, she broke the curse with a mother's love for her dying son. The powerful magic of true love restored him to life and brought back the memories of the townsfolk, who had been blinded by false lives for so long.

Meanwhile, a man known in this world as Mr. Gold, and referred to in the long-forgotten land of the Enchanted Forest as Rumpelstiltskin, stood by an old well on the edge of town, holding Belle in his arms. Then he dropped a vial of true love into the well.

Out came a purple mist with veins as dark as night.

"I-I don't understand," Belle cried.

"We're in a land without magic, and I'm bringing it. Magic...is coming," he smirked, a glint of lust for power returning in the imp's eyes.

"Why?" she pleaded.

"Why? Because magic...is power."

"BUT...NOT...FOR YOU!" an ominous voice cried from the bottomless depths.

"Why, master? I served you faithfully. I deserve to wield magic in this world."

"You were weak, and you allowed your Queen to scribble a curse all over the only thing that could tear me from you, my Host," the voice spat contemptuously, "and now that I have found it again, the Dagger must bear another's name..."

"Not Regina! Please! She cannot control magic! She will destroy this world..." Mr. Gold blubbered, losing his usual composure and posture as he thought of what might happen if she gained ultimate power, with the look of a wild and desperate man in his eyes...

The shadow ignored him and searched for a new body to inhabit as Belle stood there, stunned...

Two minutes before the kiss...

Ruby, known as Red in her old life, was plastering on a forced smile like usual as she waited tables.

Just then, a weary co-worker came in, wearing a sloppily thrown on Granny's uniform on her thin body and an even messier head of short black hair that covered her pale face.

"Annie, this is the third time this week that you've been more than thirty minutes late..." Ruby said the minute she turned to see her friend. She was deeply worried, but also thought that she was becoming like her grandmother. How strange.

Annika replied with a yawn, in her soft Russian accent, "I'm sorry, Rubes. It won't happen again..."

"That's what you said five times before this! Please, I'm your friend. You can tell me what's going on."

"I can't. I don't know if you'd understand," Annika replied tersely as she looked away and attempted to pick up some dirty plates.

"Look, you're gonna get me in trouble if I have to keep covering for you, and I don't want you to lose your job here..." Ruby said.

Before Annika could search for and then force the right words out of her mouth, a shimmering rainbow light pulsed through the diner, followed by a soft wind that knocked over some small items.

As Granny approached Ruby and, seeing Annika, attempted to stride forward and reprimand her, she and Ruby both stood dumbfounded.

Feeling dizzy, Ruby weakly asked her friend, "Wh-what's going on?"

"I- I wish I knew," Annika said hurriedly. She had blinked and missed the ethereal shimmer.

But then she heard an overjoyed David elatedly yell, "Snow!"

"Charming. You found me!" Mary Margaret replied, leaping into Charming's arms.

"Did you ever doubt I would?" Charming beamed and kissed her with all the pent up longing, after twenty eight frozen years of pain and loss, that he could muster.

"No, it's..." Annika trembled. "It can't be..."

"W-What can't be?" Ruby demanded as the realization slowly started to dawn on her.

"Red? Where are we?" Granny wondered.

"I can explain but later, I promise. Everything will make sense," Annika said, torn between joy and fear of what was to come.

But then a roar shook the town and drowned out the tick of the clock striking 8:15. This caused the newly re-awakened Enchanted Forest denizens to run for cover.

Charming then yelled, "NOOOOO!" as Snow disappeared, swallowed in the gaping maw of a dark and swirling hole. "This cannot be!" he wailed and fell to his knees.

As Granny and Ruby hid under a table, a massive tentacle smashed through the roof of the diner and grabbed onto Annika, swallowing her.

Ruby screamed.

"Red, stay down!" Granny said as she crouched and tried reaching for her crossbow that wasn't there. All around her were cries of...

"What is that thing?!"

"Somebody help me!"

"I won't let it take you!"

"Not again!"

And other howls of misery from townsfolk who had already silently endured several lifetimes worth of misery.

The tentacle then opened and disgorged Annika. She was still wearing her uniform, but it was covered in a thick, grey slime that pooled on the floor around her. This slime soon slipped off of her and then a voice hissed, "You will do my bidding..."

When Annika gasped for air and coughed as the tentacle receded, Ruby found her childhood friend screaming and grabbing at her left hand as though it was being seared, and swatting at things that weren't there around her head.

"This can't be happening..." Ruby muttered, shaking with fear.

As if this wasn't enough, unearthly moans and more roars preceded more holes from nowhere that vomited out muscular, towering ogres, rotting corpses that moved as if pulled by invisible marionette strings, and wraiths, black shadows with soulless red eyes that searched for their prey.

In the streets, Charming, still shaking and wondering where his beloved Snow had gone, grew amazed as his old sword returned to his hand. He wasted no time in using it to slice off the heads of the masses of walking corpses that tried to devour his flesh.

Annika felt like her head was encased in lead and the edges of her vision were blurred by shadow. She then vomited in terror when she saw that her skin was phasing between scaly green and her normal skin color, followed by the realization that her hand was burning with a strange mark and that twin black serpents with many teeth and yellow, flaming eyes.

She did the only thing she could do- covered her hand and tried to make the snakes go away...

Next, Red yelled, "Annika, are you alright? What's happening?!" She knew that Annika was not her friend's real name, but it was force of habit that made her say that.

Annika tried to reply.

But first, she pushed back the hissing voice that whispered in her and then clenched her fists as a horde of moaning corpses made their way to the diner as customers panicked and headed for the kitchen and bathrooms.

"Get everybody else to safety now, please. Like I said, I'll explain later..." she said calmly.

_That is_, Annika thought, _if I get a single goddamn clue about it later_. But she had to put Ruby at ease, even though she felt like pissing herself right now.

"Annie..."

"I said do it now!" Annika snapped, instantly wishing she could take it back.

Then she lifted up the right leg of her pants and pulled a Beretta 9mm pistol with a silencer. Her other weapons were at home, but this would have to do, at least until she got back.

Ruby remembered what her friend was like with weapons back in the other world, and shouted, "Everybody, to the kitchen, NOW! We'll hold out there until it's safe to leave."

The customers, frightened though they were, followed Ruby's leave as Annika threw a chair at a corpse that smashed through a window and attempted to step inside the restaurant, crushing it.

But more soon climbed over the once again dead body and into the restaurant. Annika fired as many rounds as she could, and all hit their marks. Soon, dozens of undead lay as piles of rotting guts on the restaurant floor.

"Useeee...my power...or dieeeee..." that stupid voice shrieked.

"Stay out of my head," Annika grunted as she jumped over and reloaded her gun behind the counter.

"You are stronger than most before you. But soon, you will do MY BIDDING!" the voice yowled.

Annika hissed, "Dammit, low on ammo." But the enemies seemed to be unending.

At that moment, an ogre, in an attempt to flatten Charming as he sliced at the monster with a furious flurry of sword attacks, picked up and chucked a car straight at him. Charming ducked and the car smashed through the diner windows, destroying most of the corpses instead.

Annika was about to duck when the serpent just above her left shoulder instinctively reached out and grabbed the car with its long teeth. An amazed Annika watched as it threw the car back at the ogre, which was killed on impact.

"Good God, what's happening to me?" Annika cried.

_Author's Note: Sorry if this seems way too short! I hope to be able to upload a chapter, at minimum, at least once every two weeks or so. Depends on how busy I get in real life. This is my first fanfic in a while (Once Upon a Time is that good!), and so I appreciate any reads and reviews! And thanks to my awesome beta reader, Agent Aleu, for all her help! :D_


	2. Chapter 2: Lies

**Chapter 2: Lies**

"What...kind of man...are you?!" Belle shouted.

Rumple reached for her arm, but she swatted his hand away.

"I thought I could trust you, and then you do THIS to me?!" Belle sobbed.

"I can explain..."

"Good. Start explaining, please!"

Rumple recoiled at this and said, "I love you...I, I wanted to use this to bring my son, Baelfire, to this world after I left him behind in the Enchanted Forest. I don't know what came over me. I had the powers of the Dark One for so long that...it called to me again when it was too strong."

"Oh, so you have a son...what else have you not told me?" Belle demanded as she threw up her hands. "What's more important to you?"

"You are the most important thing in my life right now...and have been for a long time, Belle. I love you," Rumple said and wrapped an arm around Belle's waist.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me..."

"I love you too, you idiot. Just, please, don't scare me like that again," Belle sighed and leaned into him.

Even though he had hurt her so much ever since she had volunteered to stay with him in his castle forever...she knew. She needed him.

"I won't lie to you again, not about this," Rumple said.

"You promise?"

"If I do, then you have my permission to punch me...or something."

"Or something. Deal," Belle smiled a little.

Meanwhile, a tiny part of him, the part that had craved to wield the Dark One's power, wondered about why he hadn't gotten it. And then he knew, although he didn't look surprised so as not to tip off Belle.

The Curse. Of course. He should have realized before he handed that damn parchment to the Queen that it had been enchanted before for a reason. He had read after getting the Dark One's powers upon killing Zoso that the people who ruled the Enchanted Forest before the first human kingdoms arose did had used something called the Worldrend Curse to defeat the Dark One by separating it from its Host, isolating it in the world of the Enchanted Forest and sending away anyone who could be used as a Host.

He had thought the piece of paper he had found in the woods one day was magical, but hadn't suspected it was the Worldrend Curse parchment, and had thus unwittingly allowed Regina to do that again, sending everybody away to Earth as they both thought it would, but also keeping the Dark One trapped in the Enchanted Forest, until he stupidly brought it to Earth through the magic well.

And since he had been the Host when the Worldrend Curse happened, the Dark One could not enter him again. He could detect it was inside of Annika Lyakhova...formerly Vasilissa the Beautiful, the Queen's assassin.

_But why her? It should have been me, dammit._ But he kicked that thought out of his head like a man who was late on his rent and, looking down with a smile at the woman he knew completed him, hugged her closer, looked down, smiled. Belle had her suspicions that he would hurt her again, but that hug dispelled that fear...for at least a little while.

00000

At that moment, as hundreds of walking corpses shambled towards Storybrooke General Hospital and banged on doors that were barricaded with furniture...

"Mom...Mom, what's happening?" Henry cried as he tried to sit up.

"It's alright, dear," Emma and Regina said at the same time, glaring at each other as they knelt by Henry's bedside.

Dr. Whale then reassured Henry, "Everything's going to be fine. Just stay where you are and everything will be sorted out by the police." However, he soon jumped and gave a gasp as a corpse banged on the window.

"Zombies...I'll deal with them," Emma said and cocked her Sig Sauer P226 pistol.

"It's too dangerous!" Regina yelled. "There are hundreds of them, and we have to think about Henry."

"You cower over here...I WILL protect Henry!" Emma yelled.

"I am NOT..."

"If either of you ladies would kindly explain where Henry is at the moment, that would be very helpful," Dr. Whale said, even as his long dormant persona of Victor Frankenstein was fascinated by how the dead could have risen again.

Both Henry's birth and adoptive mother had tears in their eyes once they saw.

"What happened?" Regina asked, shoving a finger in Dr. Whale's face.

"It appears that, when magic came to this land, Henry disappeared somehow..." Dr. Whale said, throwing up his hands. "I heard a whooshing sound..."

The two women then got into another argument before he could finish about whose fault it was that Henry had been poisoned and that he had disappeared.

00000

Henry landed on a soft pile of leaves on the edge of a dead forest. He groaned, "Where am I?" and then heard moaning and jumped up, scared.

"Henry! How did you get here?" Snow asked as she turned around and found her grandson standing there.

"I was in the hospital and then I was just here, I guess. Where are we?" Henry wondered, trying to hide how scared he was, especially for Emma...

"I think we're back home," Snow said.

"Home?"

"I'm sorry. The Enchanted Forest. Like in your book. I thought it was gone forever, but we're here. But it's a much more dangerous place than it was all those years ago," Snow said. "We have to find shelter and quickly!"

More moaning...and then more of those horrifying walking corpses, followed by ogres attracted by the noise they made. Snow then took a bow and some arrows that she had found on the ground and waited for them to get closer...

Henry knew that Snow was good with a bow from the book. But where had the zombies come from? The curse? They clearly had come from the Enchanted Forest to Earth. But the book didn't have a good explanation for how zombies got in the Enchanted Forest in the first place, even though it told him exactly how the curse had happened. It was like finding out that his favorite teacher didn't know everything...

Snow took down ogres and zombies as quickly as she could let an arrow fly. But then she ran out of arrows just a whole river of them burst forth and charged.

"What do we do?" Henry asked and hugged Snow.

Snow replied, "You hang on tight," and then took Henry's hand and ran, her infamous fleet feet returning to her.

Then another arrow sailed past them and into the head of a zombie, and Snow froze as a woman in a red robe seemed to stare them down, thinking she was going to kill them.

"Come on!" the stranger yelled. "Take the kid and let's go!"

Snow didn't know if this woman was on their side just yet or not, but anything that didn't want to feast on their flesh was a step up. She decided to follow, Henry in tow.

"So, where are you taking us?" she then demanded once they lost the monsters somewhere in the woods.

"To the last survivors of the Curse, so far as we know," their mysterious benefactor said. "My name is Fa Mulan, Snow White. Welcome to the City of the Abandoned. At least, that's what I like to call it."

"How do you know my name?" Snow wondered as they stood on a hill that overlooked a city with high, thick wooden walls and fifty posts stuffed to the gills with guards.

"Your name is legendary and an inspiration to those of us who still count ourselves among the living, who still fight against the forces of the Dark One...I would like to introduce you and your kid to Queen Aurora. I'm sure she will be pleased to meet you."

"Oh...he's actually my grandson."

"Hi, I'm Henry," the little boy said cheerfully as he hopped off Snow's back.

"I can...see the resemblance," Mulan said, confused about why Snow wasn't older.

"Long story. Let's go meet the Queen..." Snow said with a sigh.

But she at least was pretty sure that this Aurora would be much less cruel than Regina. Maybe.

00000

Meanwhile, despite the best efforts of the Storybrooke Police Department, the streets were empty as most had boarded up their homes. Cars were smashed and overturned, shop windows were broken, and zombies were everywhere.

"Shit..." Annika grunted as she checked the last mag of her Beretta. It was half empty.

"How are we going to get across, Vasilissa?" Ruby squeaked.

"I haven't heard that name in a long time..." Annika muttered. She then added, "We shoot our way through and try not to get eaten as we go to the Bed and Breakfast."

"That simple, huh?" Granny asked. "My hotel could be a pile of rubble for all I know..."

"It's a working plan..." the Russian assassin replied.

"Try not to make too much noise." They all crouched down and went up near a car for cover.

"Aha! Much better," Annika grunted. She found an abandoned IMI Uzi machine pistol and a couple of full magazines. This would make mincemeat out of any of the monsters that tried to get too close.

"If we get out of this alive, please tell me what happened to you back in the restaurant, OK?" Ruby asked, trembling.

"When we get out of this alive," Granny said firmly.

"Yes, when," Annika said.

Then a wraith shrieked as it appeared behind Ruby and howled, opening its toothless, black void of a mouth to suck out her soul.

Granny then attempted to pull Ruby away while she clutched at her throat. Annika pumped half a mag into its ugly head but the bullets had no effect other than to enrage it and cause it to send Annika flying into a police car, breaking a few of her ribs.

But she was astounded as her cuts and broken bones healed quickly.

"Feeeed me his heaaaart," the Dark One hissed.

"Get the fuck out of my head and let me save Ruby," Annika grunted as she got up, still a little sore.

"Your delicious pain and suffering brought me to you, and now you belong to ME, Vasilissa! Do as I command you..." the Dark One howled.

"That's not my name anymore!" Annika grunted, getting down on her hands and knees while her nose bled.

It became too painful to resist any longer, and so she simply decided to comply.

"Hurry, Annika! Save her!" Granny yelled, and then said, "You'll never get my Red, you son of a bitch!", struggling to hold on to her even as Ruby's soul was almost gone.

Then Annika distracted the wraith by hitting it with more bullets. When its attention was focused on her, the strange black serpents appeared again over her. The right serpent grabbed onto the wraith, tossed it in the air, and then sliced it in half with a single right to left motion. After this, the left serpent reached down and pulled out and messily devoured its blackened heart, whilst Granny and Ruby looked on in horror.

"Yessss...tearrrr and mutilaaaate!" the Dark One yelled as more wraiths came forward to challenge Annika and claim Ruby's soul.

"LEAVE THEM ALL ALONE!" Annika yelled, her eyes blackening as she cried dark tears of rage. The sky turned black and purple for an instant, and then she fainted and all the monsters seemed to have suddenly vanished.

00000

Later...

When Annika woke up, she was a little girl again, back at her stepmother's thatch hut in the middle of the woods. Then it suddenly burned up and she saw her stepmother and stepsisters burning with it, although the flames curled away from her.

"Hello, Vasilissa...feed me...MURDERER!" a wooden doll told Annika in that sing song voice as she screamed. Annika jumped up as she woke up from the nightmare that had been all too real once, in a warm bed with what appeared to be hotel sheets.

She looked around frantically, still on edge after what happened. "Shhh...it's OK, Annie," Ruby smiled. She preferred using that name to Annika's old, pre-Curse name.

"Rubes, what happened? Is Granny alright?"

"She's fine. When is Granny ever not fine?" Ruby laughed a little. "There were all these monsters, but you saved me with those strange new powers you have and they disappeared, I suppose. So did Henry and Snow...but Charming has promised us that he'll find them, Emma's camping out in the Mayor's house to protect her from the angry mob that wants her dead, and hopefully things will be starting to get back to normal. All you need to do is rest."

Ruby rubbed her cheek a little with her thumb.

"And explain," Annika sighed as she shrank back into the blankets.

"You don't have to do that now..."

"I do. Rubes, I've lied to you for 28 years. While you've thought that time hasn't passed, it's been passing slower and in a more agonizing way for me. Regina allowed me to keep my memory, but she didn't let me tell anyone, and she promised to find a way to bring my family back to life if I...I assassinated people for her again. This time anyone in Storybrooke who got in her way. I'm so, so sorry..."

"But Annie...I thought she let you out of that life back in our land."

"She did, but she brought me back again."

"Is that why you've been missing work lately?"

"Yes..." Annika started to cry. "Especially these past few months. This, this life...between work at the diner and this, it's consumed my life lately."

(A/N: Now you can probably tell why I didn't start out with Annika's daily life at first.)

00000

The night before the Worldrend Curse was broken by Emma...

All was quiet at the secret prison beneath Storybrooke General Hospital where many who questioned Regina's rule vanished to. Until soft footsteps echoed softly through the shadows.

Many who were held in these cells cowered in fear that they would be chosen next...

Annika's slow, crouching walk came to an end in front of the prison door she was looking for. There was a soft rustling of metal against metal as she found the right key, and the door creaked open.

Sidney Glass did not lift his head up from his hands as he heard Annika come in, dressed in clothing that blended her body perfectly with the darkness.

"If you're going to do what you have to do, do it quickly," Sidney said. He almost welcomed death, after being tricked into killing the King by Queen Regina (who didn't love him, but he was hopelessly in love with), being trapped in a mirror, and then being forced to confess to kidnapping Kathryn and falsifying evidence of her death to frame Snow for it. Almost.

Annika was stunned as she rose up. None of the other targets, in the prison or elsewhere in Storybrooke, had ever responded. Mostly because they hadn't been given the time to.

But something about what he said, and how he said it, gave her pause. Made her think that these people weren't just criminals or terrorists. That maybe she had a choice.

"I'm only going to tell you this once," Annika said and held a knife to his throat. Sidney swallowed nervously. "Go...go and hide. If the Mayor finds out you're still alive, I will be forced to find you again and kill you for real. So don't let her find you."

Sidney didn't need to hear Annika twice.

00000

"I'm so sorry..." Annika sobbed again.

"Annie, it's not your fault at all. It's that bitchy Mayor. She made you do this for her, threatened you...but I- I mean we're here. Granny and I. Yeah," Ruby said.

Then Ruby hugged her friend, and Annika smiled, feeling safe and protected instead of like she had to do the protecting for the first time in a while.

00000

Thanks for the reviews and support! I'm really humbled by it and excited to be bringing this story to you all. Please continue to read and review and tell your friends about The Second Curse! Thanks again! :D


	3. Chapter 3: Redemption

_Author's Note: Hey everybody! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving (or weekend for all my international readers). Sorry about missing last Sunday, but I had to get home on the train on that day, and was incredibly busy with visiting relatives and such. Minor spelling and continuity errors in previous chapters have been fixed (such as Henry being carried by Snow and Dr. Whale being spelled incorrectly.) Thanks for all the feedback and support, and hope you all enjoy! Oh and lemon is coming! Just a heads up for you all._

**Chapter 3: Redemption **

"So, if I'm following you..." Belle said, "you allowed Regina to cast the curse in the first place so that you could follow Baelfire into this world. And you brought magic back for that reason as well?"

"I was going," Rumple sighed, "to just use it to give myself the power to find him...to figure out how to bring him back. But that's how I let the Dark One control me last time, and I nearly lost control again. I begged for all of it back, I invited the Dark One into this world, and for that I am truly sorry, Belle."

"I believe you can overcome this, Rumple. I really do..." Belle said. "You just have to promise me that you won't give in."

"I wish I could...but I can't. Magic has been a crutch for me to be cowardly, to hide behind all of the power that it gives me. I love you, Belle, I really do. But I've been weak for so long that I don't know if I can change without hurting you, because I'm still a monster," Rumple said, shedding a small tear.

"Please, don't push me away, not again," Belle sniffed. "You said the Curse took the Dark One from you. Maybe you will never practice magic again. Maybe it will try to worm its way back into you. But either way, that's exactly why I need to be by your side again. I can help you..."

"Oh, Belle, you're right, dear..." He was about to add "ie" like he always did, and he nearly bit his tongue, but managed to stop himself. "I thought the only hope that I had left in my life was extinguished," Rumple said and caressed her cheek. "But now that you're alive, I know that the power I need to find Baelfire, to not be a coward, comes from you, not from magic."

They soon kissed passionately, and it seemed that before either of them could gasp, they had moved from the forest clearing to Rumple's bedroom without either of them, it seemed, breaking the kiss for more than a few moments, lost in each other. Rumple, carrying Belle in his arms, then lowered her onto the bed, muttering, "My dear..." (again without the -ie), and pounced on top of her, smothering her with protective and longing kisses.

It was Belle who first pawed at his clothing once they had managed to come up for air, fumbling with buttons that she didn't understand how to undo before he smiled and removed his shirt for her. Belle admired his toned, tanned, and muscular chest and torso. She skittered her dainty fingers over it, sending shivers up Rumple's spine.

He knew that his lot in life was to hurt her, to drive her away. He didn't want to keep doing this, he thought as he started to pull her shirt up over her shoulders and she panted and bit her lip in that cute way of hers. That and her sitting on his pants was driving him wild. He knew he was like poison to her...why did she keep coming back? She said it was to change him, but he never fully understood that. He new he needed her though. Wanted this...but...

She almost didn't care if she got hurt again. In this moment, she saw in his eyes- Rumple was the man that she had fallen in love with again. The man beneath the beast. She wanted him to take her while she knew she still had that side of him holding her, shielding her from her pain. Then she would fix him, and everything would be alright...Belle gasped as felt his hands cupping her ass and his erection poking the spreading heat in her pants, stoking the coals of the fires in her heart. In no time at all, she had disposed of the rest of her pesky clothing, and was now completely and totally vulnerable in front of a man who many said was a monster. And she didn't care.

Belle and Rumple were both panting from arousal, and while she kissed him the strain on his pants became tighter, and so he removed his clothing too. Belle moaned in a way that made him nearly lose his mind as he poked her again, this time without the barrier of clothing between them.

"Are you sure you want this, my dear?" Rumple wondered, caressing her as if he feared his touch could break it. He smiled, but steeled himself for the possibility that she might want to leave him again.

"More than anything I've ever wanted..." Belle said with tears of joy fogging her eyes. She kissed him and winced while she slowly lowered herself on him, breaking her wall. Once again, the beauty that killed the beast within Rumple entranced him as they closed their eyes and were locked in a kiss.

Rumple thrusted slowly within her, allowing her delicate flower to adjust to his size before they moved more urgently. He only ever took breaks from kissing her to feel her small, firm globes, or taste her perky nipples with his expert tongue. Inevitably, release washed over them, and then they collapsed in each other's arms, happy after all these years of separation to be reunited at last.

Rumple groaned as he reluctantly pulled out and cleaned her up. When Belle asked what was wrong, he dismissed it as a cramp. However, he could still hear the Dagger, the word "Vasilissa" emblazoned on its side, calling to him.

00000

Annika had been able to do nothing for the past few minutes but stare at the ceiling while the dilapidated fan warbled along and the bulb fizzed. Her trusty Beretta that she always carried on Regina's assassination missions, carried around in public just in case, and that had come in handy when the zombies arrived sat unloaded, staring at her. It seemed to be her only real friend at the moment. And when she thought of all the people she'd been blackmailed into killing, she thought of her stepmother and stepsisters lying in hospital beds, all because of her.

"Don't cry, my servant. Crying is for the weak...you must be strong enough to do what I ask," the Dark One said.

"And what is that?" Annika huffed.

"KIIIIILL REGINAAAAA!" the Dark One yelled. "I'm not a killer, not any more."

"She made you a killer, she has never found a way to bring back your family, she kept you apart from Ruby for 28 years, and soon she will try to have you both killed for what you are...I know and see much that is hidden from the eyes of men, and I have given you my mark so that you may take your revenge. Devour hearts for me, find the bones of the dragons for ME, my servant, and soon you shall have what you seek."

"No!" Annika screamed as the mark glowed angrily, searing her left hand before disappearing again.

"Enhanced eyes," a garbled voice growled until it turned Annika's surroundings orange, except for ordinary people, who were in yellow, and Ruby, whom Annika could see in all her glory, taking a shower, as if no wall existed between their rooms.

"Do this for Ruby, and you shall be rewarded..." the Dark One chuckled, knowing that Annika was blushing. "But remember, all magic has a price!" Annika managed to figure out how to turn this off as she heard Ruby turning off the shower, changing, and knocking on the door.

"Annie, open up. It's me!" Ruby cried.

"Yeah...come in," Annika said and got up, eyes bleary and hair disheveled even further than this morning as she opened the door.

"What was that? I heard you screaming, Annie," Ruby said and hugged her friend.

"I'm sorry, really I am. It's just another nightmare. This has been a really, really long day for me."

"Me too," Ruby sighed. "Listen, we've seen the damage that has been done to this town, and I've been thinking...we have to go help everybody, as soon as we can."

"But what if they see me? What if they know what I did to them?" Annika wondered, trying not to cry again as she thought of all the suffering she'd been tricked into causing.

Then she screamed in pain again while, without her knowing it, Sneezy attempted to cross the boundary of Storybrooke and, to the horror of the dwarves who had given him the short straw, his body was burnt to a crisp in a wall of black and purple haze that then disappeared and took his agonized soul with it.

"Yeeeeessss...so much deeeeelicious sufferiiiiing!" the Dark One hissed. "Your power is already growing from their pain. I know you can feel it..."

"Are you sure you're OK?!" Ruby cried as Annika bent over a little. "Granny, get up here!"

"I'm fine!" Annika shouted and pushed her best friend away. Ruby looked stunned at this, but Annika explained, while clutching her side, "Sorry, I probably just slept on my side wrong or something." Ruby, though, crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, clearly not buying it.

"OK, I am a little cranky, I guess," Annika said. She could never lie to Ruby. Except for, of course, the whole business with Regina, but she put that out of her head for now. "Just a bit worried that people will think I'm a monster."

"Don't be, Annie. I know what it feels like, remember? I'll protect you if they do try to come after you, and I know you'd do the same thing for me if it was me. Not that you can't protect yourself, but..."

"It's alright. Thanks, Rubes," Annika replied and hugged her for a few seconds longer than she normally would. It felt nice.

When Granny came up to see what was the matter with them, Annika and Ruby both dismissed it as nothing and then went downstairs to try to help the town. As the three of them arrived, the world outside still seemed chaotic- less so now that the zombies and assorted monsters were gone, but barely.

Cars were overturned and smashed, shops were closed or looted, scattered gunfire could be heard in the distance, and, most importantly, Charming and Emma were barely able to keep back an angry mob led by Dr. Whale as they attempted to batter down the door and lynch a defenseless Regina.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Granny muttered and got out her crossbow while Annika patted her right pocket, where her pistol now resided (instead of her garter.) They all then headed towards the few people who represented order in Storybrooke of any kind at the moment.

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"So what happened to our land, exactly?" Snow asked Mulan as they went to see Queen Aurora.

"When the Curse happened," Mulan said, "many were taken to your land of- Storybrooke, you called it?"

Snow nodded while Henry walked alongside her, mouth open at all the people busy collecting firewood, repairing tents, even burning the dead, taking it all in...

"Including you. Some of us stayed here and survived the Curse, and we don't know why. And some who could not be taken to your land..." Mulan trailed off.

"What happened to them?" Henry wondered.

"They died, unfortunately," a tall, dark man in shining armor said as he emerged from the Queen's tent. "But not for long. They were possessed by the Dark One, as were the dragons, trolls, and wraiths, and sent against us. We've been safe here, though."

"Lancelot!" Snow cried and hugged him. "So good to see you're alive." "And you as well, Snow. For 28 years, we've been frozen in time and under siege. Perhaps now that the Curse has ended, with your help, we may yet be able to find a way to break past the Dark One's armies and to get you back to your land." "You're Lancelot? As in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?" Henry asked, beaming. Maybe the fact that he left behind his book and that it didn't know everything was a good thing. He had learned so much already, but was eager for more.

"Ex-knight, but yes, I am..." Lancelot smiled. "And who might you be, young squire?"

"Henry," the little boy spoke as he looked up at Lancelot.

"Pleasure to meet you, Sir Henry," Lancelot bowed.

"Thank you, Lancelot, Mulan, that will be all for now..." Aurora said as she forcefully pushed aside the curtains of her royal tent and emerged. A silver, diamond studded tiara sat atop her poised forehead, while her body was draped with a ragged and frayed satin dress with white feathers adorning it as though she was a swan, albeit one that had had much of her plumage plucked in battle.

"ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!" Lancelot and Mulan yelled, and then the entire town got on their knees and yelled the same thing in unison, with a quick motion of their right hands as their salute.

Snow, however, remained standing and squarely set a steely gaze at Aurora and crossed her arms. Pulling off an intimidating air would have been easier to do with her old forest clothing and longer hair, as opposed to her short, bobbed black hair and hand knitted pink sweater from back home, but Snow supposed that it would have to do.

"So, you wish to join us, then?" Aurora huffed, pursing her lips.

"Better than the alternative, I suppose," Snow snapped back.

"Well, Lancelot seems to vouch for your trustworthiness, but we don't have a lot, so don't expect to lay around and feed you for nothing."

"Don't be ridiculous," Snow said sarcastically.

"Well, since you both will clearly need something useful to do," Aurora said, tapping her foot impatiently, "the waste from our cattle has grown, and the person whose job it is to make it into fertilizer for our crops was eaten by an ogre while carelessly wandering outside our walls last night. It's a good thing you're here to replace him."

"Oh, yuck!" Henry cried and held his nose as the stench wafted over them from a pile of dung that was at least twice as big as him.

"Of course, if you don't want to do that," Aurora said, "I could always let you go, and you can have fun with all the demons who will be just so, so happy to see you."

"Fine," Snow glowered. She didn't appreciate that Henry was being treated like this, but unfortunately she didn't have a choice. "Let's go. Get the shovels and wheelbarrow, Henry..."

"Aw, Nana!" Henry protested.

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**NEXT SUNDAY ON THE SECOND CURSE!**

Annika confronts the haunting memories of her past as she tries to help Charming and Emma rebuild a town damaged by zombies and bitter rivalries. Rumple continues to struggle between desire for magic and his love for Belle. Henry and Snow try to find a way back home. Regina tries to live without magic or her son as everybody searches for a way to find him and Snow...And more!

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_Author's Note: This is what the Dark One's mark looks like: bit . ly / WMrfOL (without spaces). In case any of you were wondering, this mark and Annika's ability to see through walls, among other powers, are from Dishonored, while this interpretation of the Dark One and his serpents comes from The Darkness. Both are great games and the elements I borrowed seemed to fit in well with Once Upon a Time. Thanks again for all the support! Don't forget to read, review, and tell your friends about this story._


	4. Author's Note

_Hey, guys! I know you all hate author's notes, but if you'll indulge for a few minutes, I can explain why I haven't updated in two weeks. I and my beta, Agent Aleu, have both been extremely busy. I can't speak for her, but I've been sick lately, which has turned my brain to mush, and then I have had to drag my mushy brain to final exams. Those are just TERRIFIC. :D But my exams will end on Friday, and hopefully I'll be bringing you Chapter 4 of The Second Curse this coming Sunday!_

_And thanks for all the reads and reviews. It's been mind boggling, and I am tremendously grateful for the support!_


	5. Author's Note II

I know, I know, yet another author's note...I know you all hate them, but I really want to say to all you guys that this story is NOT dead. School and clubs have been really demanding of my time, but I'll try to post a chapter once Once Upon a Time comes back on the air!


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